Erika Karp is an American

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

, businesswoman and investment advisor. She is the founder of and chief executive officer of an investment firm called Cornerstone Capital Inc. Karp is a founding Board member of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board. She is an advisor to the UN Global Compact's LEAD Board Development Program, a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Financing and Capital, and an Advisor to the Clinton Global Initiative’s Market-based Approaches track. Prior to launching Cornerstone in August 2013, Karp was managing director and head of Global Sector Research at UBS Investment Bank. She also chaired the UBS Global Investment Review Committee and served on the UBS Securities Research Executive Committee and the Environmental and Human Rights Committee of the UBS Group Executive Board.

Education and early career

Karp received her B.S. in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania’s

Wharton School The Wharton School ( ) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia. Established in 1881 through a donation from Joseph Wharton, a co-founder of Bethlehem Steel, the Wharton ...

in 1985 and her MBA in Finance from

Columbia Business School Columbia Business School (CBS) is the business school of Columbia University, a Private university, private research university in New York City. Established in 1916, Columbia Business School is one of six Ivy League business schools and one of ...

in 1991. She began her professional career at IBM’s ROLM Telecom division as an account representative. In 1989, she left IBM to get her MBA. In 1991, Karp became a director of institutional equity sales at Credit Suisse First Boston. Karp joined

UBS Investment Bank UBS Group AG (stylized simply as UBS) is a multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland, with headquarters in both Zurich and Basel. It holds a strong foothold in all major fina ...

in 1999 and was promoted to Managing Director, Global Head of Research Product Management in 2002. She created the UBS Q-Series research initiative to drive investment research from across regions. She also joined the Global Investment Review Committee (GIRC), composed of researchers from around the world. In 2007, Karp was appointed head of Global Sector Research.

Awards and honors

Karp has been named to AdvisorOne’s “Top 50 Women in Wealth,” GOOD magazine's “GOOD 100” and the “Purpose Economy 100.” She is also among 50 “conscious capitalists” profiled in Kim Curtin's 2015 book, “Transforming Wall Street: A Conscious Path for a New Future.” In 2014, she was named as a “Woman of Influence” by the New York City Business Journal, as part of a national program honoring women who innovate, succeed and "pay it forward," and who stand out both for their achievements in the marketplace as well as their commitment to community and mentoring. She was honored in May 2015 by the Greyston Foundation of Yonkers New York, for demonstrating a lifelong commitment in support of sustainable business and social enterprise. Cornerstone Capital was a finalist for the 2014 Finance for the Future Award, which recognizes financial leadership in developing successful business models that produce financial returns and deliver environmental and social benefits.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karp, Erika American investment bankers Living people Wharton School alumni Columbia Business School alumni American women chief executives American chief executives of financial services companies Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women